


Double Trouble

by Starlight713



Series: Atom Bomb Baby [2]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Complete, Domestic, Family, Finished!, Fluff, Gen, Some Plot, Some angst, What the kiddos do when Mom and Dad are out saving the world, peripheral romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-04
Updated: 2017-03-02
Packaged: 2018-08-28 23:30:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8467096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starlight713/pseuds/Starlight713
Summary: Shaun and Duncan make Sanctuary a home.(Also known as The Adventures of Shaun and Duncan!)





	1. Surprise

                Shaun hitched Duncan higher up on his back as Duncan sniffled and rubbed his eyes. They were at the top of the gate house and could see almost all the way to the Red Rocket across the bridge, but there was no sign of Mom or Mister MacCready coming home. He hadn’t thought that there would be, but he promised Duncan he would go look with him after lunch anyways. It had only been two days since they’d left, but Mister MacCready _had_ promised that he would be back soon. Mom had to go help Uncle Nicky with something and Mister MacCready didn’t want Mom to have to walk all the way there alone. He had told Uncle Preston that the plan was to drop her off by “the shore” and then run the whole way back home. Mister MacCready was nice like that. He would make sure that Mom was safe. Duncan wasn’t handling it so well, though. Shaun remembered the first time Mom had left him at Sanctuary and he couldn’t blame little Duncan for crying, but he had to do _something_ about it.

                He set the littler boy down before running down the staircase and into the guard post below. Mom said that she and Mister MacCready had designed the gate to look like an old castle from the story books. Two levels—the guard posts on either side of the bridge, a gate in between, and then a walkway with canons over the gate. It made Sanctuary as safe as a castle, she had said. Shaun sure hoped she was right. The last time raiders had attacked, he and Duncan had been playing in the guard post, and he sure hadn’t _felt_ safe until Mom had scooped him and Duncan up and rushed them into the house. He hadn’t liked being around the gate without Mom since, but Paladin Danse was watching the outpost right now though, so they should be pretty safe.

                Shaun took Duncan’s hand. Uncle Preston was helping with some repairs on the new concrete walls around the settlement, but maybe he would have some ideas for cheering the littler boy up. When he saw Shaun and Duncan walking over, he dropped the bag of old tools he’d been rifling through, wiped his hands on his work jeans, and met them halfway across the field.

                “Boys!” He tousled Shaun’s hair and pat Duncan’s shoulder. “I see we’ve finished lunch. What are you up to now?”

                He crouched down so that he was about eye-level with them. Shaun loved it when he did that. All the grown-ups at the Institute had stood above him and looked down—poking and prodding at him, taking notes. They had been tall and had talked around him a lot— _“the subject”_ this and _“the subject”_ that. Uncle Preston never talked around him.

                “We were waiting for Mom and Mister MacCready to come home.”

                Uncle Preston frowned slightly—it was really quick, but Shaun saw it—before smiling wide, showing all of his teeth.

                “Well I think we should surprise them by doing something nice for when they get home, hmm?”

                Duncan perked up a bit at that, curious. “Like what?”

                Uncle Preston rocked back onto his heels. “Well, what do _you_ think they’d like?”

                The two boys thought for a moment but nothing came to mind. Mom seemed to like it a lot when Shaun made her things, but he had no idea what Mister MacCready liked. Besides, Shaun made her things all the time. It wouldn’t be special if he made her another scope. Duncan kicked at the ground. He didn’t seem to know what his daddy would want either. Mom had said that Mister MacCready and Duncan had been separated for a while too, just like he and Mom had been. Duncan probably wouldn’t know what to get his dad for a present, so it would be up to Shaun to think of something good for the both of them.

                Uncle Preston watched him think for a minute before standing back up.

                “I think you two should come up with a plan together.” He picked up his bag of tools off the ground. “Think a bit, and when you have an idea, let me know. Sturges and I will help however we can. Isn’t that right, Sturges?”

                Sturges waved from the perimeter wall, a pencil in his mouth as he planned out how to lay the next stretch of concrete. Sturges was good at making things too. He had spent some time with Shaun in those first few weeks Shaun had lived at Sanctuary, showing Shaun how to build things. With Sturges and Uncle Preston helping, they could build whatever they needed to.

                “C’mon, Duncan.” Shaun tugged Duncan towards the shack Mom and Uncle Preston had built for him and Duncan to play in. The first floor was full of toys and a massive couch, but the second floor had two sleeping bags and some string lights. That was where he and Duncan held secret meetings. Duncan followed along and they clambered up the stairs of the clubhouse.

                “We have to think of something good, okay? Something that will really surprise them.”

                Duncan frowned. “When is Daddy coming home?”

                “Dunc, he’ll be back soon. That’s why we need to plan.”

                “What about Lola?”

                “Mom?” Shaun bit his lip. Mom had warned him that she might be gone for a little while. She wouldn’t be coming home when Mister MacCready did this time. He didn’t like to think about it. “I don’t know.”

                Duncan curled his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his knees.

                “Hey. Hey, Duncan. It’s okay. They’ll be home soon!” Shaun flopped down onto his sleeping bag. The teddy bear Mom had given him was still up here, next to his pillow. He set the bear up so that it was sitting against the wall beside him. Duncan rubbed his eyes with his fists again.

                “We have to surprise your dad first, okay?” Shaun took out the pad of paper he had stashed under his pillow. “Mister MacCready will be home first, so we have to think of something good to get him.”

                Duncan nodded sullenly.

                “What does your dad like?”

                Duncan shrugged.

                “Come on, Dunc. You _gotta_ know what your dad likes!”

                “Comics.” Duncan’s muffled voice sounded through the sleeve of his coat. “Daddy likes comics, and reading to me, and snacks, and playing hide-and-seek.”

                “Good!” Shaun had the paper in hand, but he realized belatedly he didn’t have a pen. “We could make him a snack?”

                “That’s dumb.”

                “No it isn’t.”

                “Yeah it is.”

                “Duncan,” Shaun sighed, setting down the paper. “We have to work together. Your dad will be home soon.”

                “Are you sure?” Duncan looked up at him over his crossed arms.

                “Positive.”

                Duncan poked his head up more. He wasn’t crying anymore, at least. “We could make him cake. Daddy always said he liked cakes.”

                Shaun wasn’t sure how to make a cake, or if Uncle Preston and Sturges would know how to either, but he added it to the list of ideas in his head.

                “What if we get him a new comic? Then he can read to us when he gets back.”

                Duncan perked up at that.

                “Yeah! We could get him a comic!” His face got real serious. “But it has to be Grognak. I don’t like the other ones.”

                “It isn’t for you, Duncan—” Shaun stopped when he looked back over at Duncan’s face. Sometimes he forgot how little the kid was. “Okay, Grognak it is. Let’s go tell Uncle Preston.”

                “What about Lola?”       

                “We’ll come up with an idea for her next.” They had more time to figure out a gift for Mom. There was no telling when she’d be home again. Shaun buried that thought for now. He needed to show Duncan that it would be okay. Mom had told him that he needed to help Uncle Preston look after Duncan as much as he could, and he was determined to be the best big brother ever. He tucked the teddy bear into his sleeping bag before running back down the stairs and out of the clubhouse with Duncan hot on his heels.


	2. Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gathering supplies for Mister MacCready's surprise takes a turn.

Shaun and Duncan had told Uncle Preston about their plan just before dark, and Uncle Preston agreed to accompany them to buy supplies the next morning. That night they talked over some ideas during dinner, and then tucked in for bed after they came up with a list of things they would need to make this work.

Shaun was happy for the help—he and Duncan didn’t know the first thing about making cakes or buying comics—but Duncan kept saying he could do it himself (even though he couldn’t even see over the counter at the shop). Uncle Preston didn’t seem to mind. When they walked to the general store, Uncle Preston handed Duncan a handful of caps.

                “One Grognak comic please!” Duncan dropped all of the caps on the counter and a couple rolled right off and onto the floor. Ralph, the shop owner, leaned over to look down at the caps, and then at Duncan.

                “Which one, kid?”

                Duncan looked back at Shaun. Uh-oh. They hadn’t thought about that. Which one _did_ they want? Shaun looked up at Uncle Preston, who laughed.

                “Well boys? Why don’t you ask which comics he has?”

                Duncan looked back up at Ralph, who came around the counter with a handful of comic books. Ralph knelt down so that he was about at eye-level. Uncle Preston nudged Shaun forward.

                Shaun flipped through a couple of the options with Duncan. Ralph’s shop had “The Bosom of the Corsair Queen” (Duncan didn’t know what a “bosom” was, but Shaun thought that one might be all full of mushy stuff), “The Ants of Agony” (giant ants seemed too silly), “Cometh the Trickster” (which had a cool cover), and “An Axe for All Ages” (which seemed like an origin story). Duncan liked “Cometh the Trickster,” but Shaun really wanted “An Axe for All Ages,” because—truth be told—he _still_ didn’t really know what Grognak was about. They hadn’t had comic books in the Institute. Mister MacCready had read him and Duncan a couple of stories, but Shaun was still a little fuzzy on the details.

                Finally, it was Uncle Preston who helped them decide.                                                                                               

                “Hmm. ‘An Axe for All Ages,” huh?” He picked up the comic and flipped through a few pages. “Look, Duncan! Grognak looked a bit like you and Shaun when he was a kid, didn’t he?”

                Shaun looked at the panel in question. On the page was a child Grognak, sitting with his mum and dad outside of a cave. Shaun looked down at Duncan, but he didn’t really think Duncan looked much like Grognak. And Shaun had red hair. Grognak was blond. He was about to say as much to Uncle Preston when Duncan shouted “you’re right!”

                Duncan was so excited that Shaun decided maybe not to say anything right now.

                “This one, please, Mister Ralph.” Shaun picked up the comic.

                “You sure, kids? Alright, fifteen caps.”

                Uncle Preston raised an eyebrow at that, but picked up some of his caps from the counter and counted out fifteen to give to Duncan. Duncan handed over the caps, and they took the comic back home.

                Duncan wanted to wrap it up in something else. He insisted that every time Miri had gotten him a present, she had wrapped it in newspapers, and that it was tradition. Silly sounding tradition, Shaun thought, but then, he hadn’t really ever received presents, so he figured he’d let Duncan handle that one. Uncle Preston found them a bit of old newspaper, and they spent the next few minutes trying to wrap the comic so that Uncle Preston could tie it all up with a string.

                First part: done. Now all they had to do was make a cake. Uncle Preston said that his mom used to make cakes when he was a kid, but he couldn’t really remember how. Duncan didn’t have any idea (Miri had never made a cake), and while they’d had sweets and pastries at the Institute, no one had ever shown Shaun how to make anything like that. The only things they’d written on their list was “cake supplies,” but none of them had realized that they didn’t know what that meant.

                In the end, Uncle Preston pointed out that it might just be better to unwrap a bunch of snack cakes and put them on a plate. Duncan said the Fancy Lad’s kinds were the best. Shaun wasn’t so sure, but then again, he was still getting used to Wasteland food.

                They were on their way to the bar and restaurant (which is the only place that would have Wasteland food and not just veggies from the garden or radstag) when it happened.

                The siren went off.

                Mom had installed a siren in the central lookout post to raise the alarm fast if there were intruders. The cement walls around Sanctuary were almost done, but there were a couple of places over by the field that were still not secured. They were in the middle of the street, watching Super Mutants pour through those gaps. Uncle Preston scooped Duncan up in his arms, and grabbed for Shaun’s hand, pulling him towards the house. Once they were inside, Uncle Preston led them to the closet across from the bathroom. There was an old crib and a chair in the closet, as well as Mom’s safe. Mom didn’t like it when the boys played in this room—it felt wrong to be hiding here now. Uncle Preston set Duncan down and pushed Shaun into the closet after him before upturning the crib and stepping out into the hallway. He pulled the rifle off his back. Shaun had never seen him _use_ his rifle.

                “Shaun, Duncan. I’m going to close you in and go find Mama Murphy. Do not come out for any reason, do you understand? I’ll come get you when it’s safe.”

                Duncan whimpered. Shaun nodded.

                “You’ll be okay. Just stay put.”

                Uncle Preston pulled the crib into the doorway until it blocked them in. Shaun could hear his footsteps pounding down the hall until the front door closed behind him. This wasn’t at all like the drills Mom had made him do. In the drills, Mom set off the siren, and then Mama Murphy walked over. Shaun picked up Duncan, and then Mama Murphy took Shaun’s hand and led them to the house. The locked the door, and pushed a couch in front of it. Then, they found a place to hide—usually in Mom and Mister MacCready’s room, which didn’t have any windows. They would wait for Mom to tell them it was okay to come out, and then Mom would tell him what a good job he had done.

                Duncan was crying. He didn’t notice for a minute, but there had been a loud _boom,_ and Duncan had started crying. Shaun crawled over to where Duncan was sitting on the floor and hugged Duncan.

                “I want daddy.”

                “I know, Dunc.”

                “When’s daddy coming home?”

                “I don’t know, but he can’t come home yet, remember? We still have to finish making his surprise.” Shaun bit his lip. He could hear screaming from outside. Shouting. Super Mutant voices.

                “Those guys looked like Strong and Fawkes.” Duncan hugged his knees.

                “But they’re not like Strong, remember?” Shaun sure wished Strong was sitting with them right now. “Strong is a good Super Mutant. These are bad Super Mutants.”

                “Fawkes said it wasn’t their fault.” Shaun had never met Duncan’s friend Fawkes, but he didn’t sound anything like Strong. “Fawkes said that they’re just dumb and can’t help but fight people.”

                “Maybe, Duncan.”

                They could hear gunfire from outside. All different kinds of gunfire. Shaun swore he could smell smoke.

                “Shaun?”

                “Yeah?”

                “I’m scared.”

                Shaun hugged the kid tighter. “Me too.”

                “What if Preston doesn’t come back? Or Lola? Or Daddy?”

                “They’ll come back.”

                “What if they don’t?”

                “Duncan,” Shaun whispered. He didn’t have an end to that sentence, though. What if Mom never came back for him? What if she went far away and couldn’t get back? Or died? Mister MacCready had been worried about her leaving—Shaun had heard him and Mom fighting about it in the kitchen after he and Duncan had gone to bed. Mister MacCready had said it was too dangerous. That if Uncle Nick was worried, it had to be something real bad.

                _“What do I tell Shaun if this case turns out to be your last? Sorry your mom’s dead, kid? Tough luck?”_

_“RJ it isn’t going to—”_

_“The hell it isn’t! If you die and I’m not there—”_

_“We can’t BOTH leave. Nick said there will be some traveling involved. At least one of us has to stay in the Commonwealth for the boys.”_

_“Then stay. Let Nick take Piper or someone.”_

_“Piper can’t leave Nat.”_

_“I don’t care!”_

Shaun had never heard Mister MacCready sound so mad. He snuck out of his room and hid in the bathroom to get a better look. He didn’t want to snoop, but he was already awake…When he peeked out, he saw Mister MacCready hugging Mom. It had been a real bad fight.  And even though Mister MacCready and Mom had both said she would be back in no time, the next day when they told him she would be leaving, Shaun knew that neither of them believed that. He couldn’t shake that thought.

                And then, what if Uncle Preston died? Who would come find them? What if everyone died and there was no one left? Would Mister MacCready know to look for them? What if the Super Mutants killed everyone and then hid and killed Mister MacCready when he tried to come home? What if Mom survived the trip, tried to come home later, and they killed her too?

                _Calm down_ , he reminded himself. _You have to be calm for Duncan. You’re his big brother._

“They’ll come back, Duncan. And we’ll surprise your dad with his present, and then he’ll help us make something for my Mom.”

                “We don’t have any guns. What if the Super Mutants try to kill us?”

                “Uncle Preston won’t let that happen.”

                Duncan squirmed and stood up, looking at the crib blocking the door.

                “Daddy keeps a gun in his dresser.”

                “…Next to his and Mom’s bed?”

                Duncan nodded.

                “Are you sure?”   
                “I saw it once. If we had a gun, we could fight the Super Mutants too.”

                Shaun thought about it for a moment. Mom had never let him hold a gun. He asked once if she would teach him how to fight (after the first time Sanctuary had been attacked), but that question had made her really upset, and she had said no. Mister MacCready said that, when he was a little older, he would teach Shaun to shoot like a pro. But he had seen people using guns when Mom and her friends had come to get him from the Institute. It didn’t look so hard. And he and Duncan would be safer if he could protect them.

                “Stay here. I’ll go get the gun. Don’t come out for anyone, okay?”

                Duncan nodded. Shaun pulled the crib away from the doorway just a bit so that he could slip through, tugging it back into place behind him, just in case. He snuck over to the end of the hall to check the front door, but it was still closed tight. Letting out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, he walked back past the closet and turned into Mom’s room. Mom’s dresser was against the far corner, but Mister MacCready’s was right across from the door. He ran the couple of steps and rifled through the top drawer. There were a couple of drawings, some caps, a pack of cigarettes, some clothes, some bullets, comics, an old medical kit, a packet of letters. At first, he didn’t see any gun. Finally, when he pushed aside a bundle of shirts, he found the handgun. It was a lot heavier than he expected, and he had to hold it with both hands. He wasn’t sure how to check to see if it was loaded, so he hoped that it was. For a second, he was tempted to pull the trigger to see if anything happened. That was how it worked, right? Pull the trigger and it goes off? That was the flaw in his and Duncan’s plan; Shaun had no idea how to use this thing.

                He started to make his way back to the closet (gun still in hand) when he realized that he had no idea how the fight outside was going. Good? Bad? He and Duncan had no way to tell. But there was a window next to his bed. If he could look through it, he could see pretty much all the way to the bar across the street.

                He practically crawled across the floor (just in case) over to his bed, and then to the window. He poked his head up so that his eyes were just barely over the sill, but he couldn’t see as much as he had hoped. He looked up and saw a little more, but he still couldn’t tell if the Super Mutants were winning or losing. Just then, he heard the front door open.

                His heart pounded in his throat as he dropped down and hid under his bed. It could just be Uncle Preston, right? It was probably just Uncle Preston. Unless the Super Mutants had killed Uncle Preston and stolen his key. But they wouldn’t steal the key, right? They would just break the door. There was a scraping as the crib pulled away from the closet doorway, and then hushed voices. Super Mutants wouldn’t whisper, right? The blanket on his bed blocked his view. He pulled the edge of the covers back a teeny bit so that he could see better, but he still couldn’t see most of the hallway.

                “Shaun?” Uncle Preston. He nearly cried with relief. It was Uncle Preston. “Shaun, come out. Shaun?”

                Shaun crawled out from under the bed and ran over to Uncle Preston, who was holding his rifle pointed at the ground. Shaun hugged the man around the waist.

                “Shaun, thank god! I told you to stay put.”

                “I’msorryI’msorryI’msorry!”

                Uncle Preston pulled back but pat his head before noticing the gun in his hand.

                “Where did you get that gun?”

                “It’s Mister MacCready’s.”

                “Give it to me.”

                Shaun handed over the gun and Uncle Preston tucked it into his belt.

                “That isn’t a toy, Shaun. You don’t know how to use it. Promise me you’ll stay with Duncan and Mama Murphy, and you won’t try to fight again.”

                “I’m sorry.”

                “ _Promise_ me.”

                “I promise.”

                Uncle Preston squeezed him close and pet his hair the way Mom did after a long day.

                “I’ll protect you and Duncan and everyone here, Shaun. I promise I will. You don’t have to worry, okay?”

                “Okay.”

                Uncle Preston led him out into the hallway where Mama Murphy was standing with Duncan.

                “I’m going to go back out. I’ll come get you when the fighting is over. In the meantime, block the door and don’t come out for anything, okay?”

                “I’ll watch over them.” Mama Murphy took Uncle Preston’s hand before he left. He handed her the gun he had taken from Shaun.

                “I know you will.”

                Once Uncle Preston was back out the door, they pushed the couch in front of it to block it off. Mama Murphy shepherded them back into the closet and shoved the crib back into place blocking the door before sitting with her back to it on the ground.

                Duncan was the first to say anything.

                “Is the fighting almost over?”

                Mama Murphy held out her arms and Duncan crawled over to sit in her lap. After a moment, Shaun followed. Mama Murphy was really old, but she was strong, and when she hugged Shaun close, he felt a million times safer.

                “Not quite yet, dears, but we will win this one. Don’t need the sight to tell me that.”

                She was always saying weird stuff like that.

                “Are you sure?” He didn’t mean to doubt her, but he couldn’t help it. She hugged him close. Mama Murphy always smelled like cigarettes and earth. She was teaching him and Shaun to garden. She kissed the top of Duncan’s head when he curled up and buried his face in her side. Then gun sat on the floor beside them.


	3. Big Brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This hadn't been as scary when Mom had been here.

                He wasn’t sure how long he, Duncan, and Mama Murphy had been sitting in the closet before there was a bang. Furniture flying—something breaking. Mama Murphy startled before shoving him and Duncan back. She pushed the armchair in front of them, sandwiching Shaun and Duncan between the back of the chair and the wall, all the while whispering “get down, get down!”

                She pulled off her sweater and draped it over them to hide them from sight. Shaun tugged Duncan down next to him and then peeked around the corner of the chair, too scared to look away.

                Without a second to spare, she grabbed the handgun off the floor and stood facing the crib. Shaun hugged Duncan close and watched as the crib was torn away from the door and set aside as if it weighed nothing. He had never been this close to a Super Mutant that wasn’t Strong. It was massive—almost too big to fit through the doorway. Mama Murphy held up the gun and pulled the trigger, but all that came out was a clicking sound. It _hadn’t_ been loaded after all.

                This wasn’t a good hiding place. This _wasn’t_ a good hiding place.

                Mama Murphy dropped the gun and backed up a little closer to the chair. Shaun squeezed Duncan’s hand. He could hear Duncan crying. The Super Mutant lashed out at Mama Murphy and she ducked. It struck out again and knocked her against the wall. She crumpled. The Super Mutant cocked its massive head looking at her. She didn’t get back up. Shaun couldn’t even tell if she was breathing.

                _Oh no. No no no no no!_

                Tears stung at the corners of his eyes. There was nothing he could do. Nothing. The Super Mutant was gonna kill Mama Murphy, and then it was gonna kill him and Duncan. Duncan would never see Mister MacCready again. He would never see his mom. He scrunched back behind the chair and wrapped his arms around Duncan, who had tucked his knees into his chest.

                He had to protect Duncan. He’d promised Mom and Mister MacCready that he would keep Duncan safe. He’d promised. He couldn’t let them all down!

                _Bang! Bang! Bang!_

_Thud._

                Duncan whimpered. The floor shook.  Shaun wanted to poke his head out and see what had happened, but he was too scared.

                “Boys? Boys, come on out.”

                Uncle Preston.

                Shaun wanted to say something or move, but when he tried to speak up, his voice came out as a whimper. That was enough, though, because within a second, Mama Murphy’s sweater vanished from over his and Duncan’s heads, and Uncle Preston was there, looking at them. Safe. They were safe. Uncle Preston had killed the bad guy. He reached down and scooped them up in his arms one at a time, hugging them tight before setting them down.

                “Are you boys okay?”

                Shaun nodded. Duncan didn’t make any moves. He was still crying.

                “I need to carry Mama Murphy to the bunker, okay? Can you boys walk?”

                Shaun picked up Duncan, shifted him onto his back, and Duncan wrapped his arms so tight around Shaun’s neck that for a second, he couldn’t breathe.

                “I got him.”

                “Good boy, Shaun.” Uncle Preston nodded. “There are only a few left, but we’re going to the bunker, okay? The one outside of the walls.”

                Shaun didn’t know where the bunker was, but bobbed his head anyways.

                Sturges was waiting for them outside with a shotgun in his hands.

                “There are three left, fighting over by the gate, Garvey. Can’t get them pinned down.”

                “Are we clear by the bunker?”

                “Finally—yeah.”

                “Cover me.”

                Shaun ran in between Uncle Preston and Sturges, who was bringing up the back. They sprinted to the far end of the field, and then hopped over the foundations for the next segment of the unfinished barrier wall. Uncle Preston circled back towards an old metal bulkhead door, just outside of Sanctuary, and set Mama Murphy down on the grass. It took him a second to fish his keyring out of his pocket. When he finally got the lock on the door open, he carried Mama Murphy down into the bunker. It was a small room—all cement, as far as Shaun could see—with one worn-out mattress and some wooden shelves lined with food and necessities. Uncle Preston set Mama Murphy down on the mattress while Sturges ushered Shaun and Duncan down into the bunker. It smelled musty, like the old wet leaves Mister Long was always raking out of the garden.

                “One of the Super Mutants knocked her out cold,” Uncle Preston said. “Sturges, take care of her and the boys while we round up the last of this wave before the next wave comes. Lock the doors behind me and don’t open them for any reason till I give you the all-clear.”

                “Roger roger, Garvey.” Sturges had already found a med kit in the supplies on the shelf. Uncle Preston reached the bunker doors in two strides and dropped them shut behind him. Shaun set Duncan down on the bed next to Mama Murphy, and he immediately curled up with his face in her side, wearing her sweater like a cape.

                “Shaun, can you lock the doors?” Sturges didn’t look up from mopping up Mama Murphy’s head with a damp rag.

                “How?”

                “Grab the chain. Should be over there. Chain the handles and then lock ‘em with the padlock.”

                There was a coil of chain ending in a padlock over on the bottom step. The key was already in the lock. Shaun did as he was told—threading the chain through both metal handles and then padlocking it in place. The lock was heavy, and the doors were thick, which gave Shaun a second’s comfort. This had never happened during one of Mom’s drills. This had never happened when Mom was around.

                Shaun wandered back over to the other side of the room, suddenly tired. He pat Duncan’s head. Duncan was curled into a ball, shaking. Shaun rubbed his back the way Mom did when he couldn’t sleep.

                “Dunc?”

                “Mmfffgrrthrrrppp” His response was too muffled to understand.

                “What?”

                “Mmrmfffgggggrrthhhrrrrppppprrrttttnnnn”

                “Duncan, I can’t hear you.”

                Duncan pulled his face away. Tears streaked down his cheeks. “They got her, Shaun. They got her. Preston said we were safe but they got her.”

                “Aww, Dunc. Come here.” He held out his arms and Duncan crawled over and hugged him. “We’re okay. And you were so brave!”

                Duncan sniffled. Over the top of Duncan’s head, Shaun watched as Sturges propped Mama Murphy up on a stack of blankets and pillows, checked her pulse, and then injected a stimpack. He pet Duncan’s head the way Mom did and hummed one of Mister MacCready’s songs.

                Sturges finally looked over when he was done patching up Mama Murphy. He had wrapped something around her head to stop the bleeding, but a little red splotch bloomed over her eye anyways. Shaun bit his lip.

                “Is she going to be okay?”

                “Mama Murphy?” Sturges grinned but Shaun could see Sturges’ gun out of the corner of his eye. “A’course she is! My old man was a crack fixer-upper, you know. Could fix up just about anything, and he passed all that know-how onto me.” Sturges stood up from crouching and stretched. Shaun watched as Mama Murphy’s chest rose and fell.

                “C’mon, kiddo. You and the little fella have had a long day. Have a lie-down.”

                Shaun nodded and nudged Duncan. Sturges rearranged the pillows and skootched Mama Murphy to the edge of the bed so that Shaun and Duncan could curl up between her and the wall. He sat on the edge of the bed with his gun aimed at the ground.

                Shaun wanted to stay awake and help Sturges protect Duncan and Mama Murphy, but his eyelids flickered shut on him and he was asleep within seconds.


	4. Homecoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mister MacCready comes home

When he woke up later, Shaun was back in his room, tucked into bed. Like it had all been a bad dream. He glanced over towards the door and there was Duncan, asleep in his own bed, clutching that creepy Jangles the Moon Monkey Mom had gotten him. _Had_ the whole thing been a dream? He threw back the covers and crawled out of bed. It was nighttime outside, but there were always lights on in the house. The lights in Mom’s room were on. Was she—? He ran through the hallway to find Mister MacCready sprawled out on Mom’s bed with a comic and a Nuka Cola. He looked up just as Shaun turned to leave.

                “Hey, kiddo.” He didn’t want to be upset, but for a second, he had _really_ thought he’d see Mom there. Mister MacCready stood up from the bed and dropped down onto one knee so that he was eye-level with Shaun.

                “Long time no see!” Mister MacCready stretched out his arms as an invitation. Shaun liked that people in the Wasteland hugged. No one had hugged him when he lived at the Institute, but here?  _Everyone_ here hugged. He threw his arms around Mister MacCready before stepping back, unsure of what to say.

                “Just got home." He looked over at Shaun and Duncan's bedroom. "Heard you and Dunc had a bit of an adventure, huh?”

                So it _wasn’t_ a dream. Shaun nodded his head.

                “I know you took good care of yourself and Duncan. Thanks, Shaun.” Mister MacCready ruffled Shaun’s hair the way Mom always did. Mom. If Mister MacCready was home, maybe--

                “Is Mom home?”

                “Not yet, kiddo.” Mister MacCready frowned a little bit. It was only a little bit, but Shaun caught it. “She will be soon, though. Your Uncle Nick will make sure she makes it home to us.”

                Shaun nodded. Of course Mom wouldn’t be home yet. She said she would be gone for a while, and it really hadn't been that long yet. He felt silly for asking, but his brain was still half asleep, and it was the first thing he thought to ask. Shaun looked down at his shoes and the floor, digging the toe of his sneaker into the chipped floor tile.

                “Are you alright, kiddo?”

                “M’fine.” He was crying a little bit. Just a little bit. He scrunched his fists against his eyes.

                “You sure?” Mister MacCready put a hand on his shoulder.

                Shaun nodded again, but he could feel himself crying all the way now. It was dumb to miss Mom so much. He was a big kid—he didn’t _need_ his mom around all the time. But he missed her so much, and with all Super Mutants, and the gun, and Duncan, and Mama Murphy—

                He sniffled and scrubbed away some of the tears.

                “Hey there, come here.”

                Shaun walked into Mister MacCready’s arms and buried his face in that green coat. Mom had always nagged Mister MacCready about cleaning his coat—Shaun had heard them arguing about it a few times. She said it smelled like Strong's loincloth. It smelled like road dust and a little bit like sweat, but also like Mom’s soap—the one on the shelf that smells sweet, like flowers. Shaun cried harder.

                Mister MacCready picked him up and sat down on Mom’s bed, rocking back and forth.

                “It’s okay, Shaun, I miss her too.” Mister MacCready rubbed his back.

                “She wasn’t here when the Super Mutants came.”

                Mister MacCready was quiet for a minute before answering. “That must have been pretty scary for you guys, huh?”

                Shaun nodded again.

                “I’m sorry, bud. We didn’t want to leave you.”

                “I know.”

                “Preston said you two saw a Super Mutant attack Mama Murphy.”

                That too. Oh no, Shaun had completely forgotten to ask. What if Mama Murphy was dead? What if she hadn’t woken up after Sturges had fixed her? It would be all his fault.

                “Is she okay? Is Mama Murphy okay?”

                “Hey, hey. It’s alright. Mama Murphy is fine." With his ear against Mister MacCready's shoulder, he could hear the steady thump of a heartbeat. "Hit her head a bit, but they are taking care of her right now.”

                “So she’s going to be okay?” Shaun let out the breath he had been holding.

                “She’s gonna be just fine. We can visit her tomorrow, if you want.” Mister MacCready nodded. “Are you okay, Shaun?”

                Well, the Super Mutant hadn’t hit _him._ But Shaun didn’t feel alright. He hadn’t protected Duncan and Mama Murphy. He had snuck out to get a gun that didn’t work, scared Uncle Preston, watched a Super Mutant hit Mama Murphy, and then hidden. If Uncle Preston hadn’t come to get them, they’d all be dead, and it would be his fault for not protecting Duncan.

                “Look, Shaun. It’s okay if you’re mad—” Mister MacCready started.

                “Mad?”

                “At us. For leaving you and Duncan here while we left for a bit. It’s alright if you are mad at us. But we both love you boys—”

                “I’m not mad!” Shaun rubbed his eyes and looked up. Mister MacCready was watching him the way he watched Mom sometimes, like he wasn’t sure what was going to happen next. He _wasn’t_ mad, he didn’t think. Not at Mom and Mister MacCready, at least. It wasn't  _their_ fault that the Supermutants attacked and he'd had no idea what to do. He remembered the gun again—heavier than he'd thought it would be—and how hard it had been to figure out what to do once he grabbed it. “Mister MacCready, will you teach me to shoot things?”

                He didn’t respond, but rubbed the back of his neck and exhaled. “Ah, what makes you ask that, Shaun?”

                “I tried to get a gun.”

                Mister MacCready’s jaw dropped and Shaun wondered if he had said something wrong.

                “Oh. Well." He scrubbed a hand over his face. "Out of Lo—your Mom’s trunk?”

                “No. We didn’t think of that.” It was always locked, anyways. “Duncan said you had a gun in the dresser so I went to get it but Mama Murphy took it and it didn’t help when the Super Mutant came and hit her.”

                “It wasn’t loaded.”

                “Oh.”

                Mister MacCready scrubbed a hand through his hair, setting his hat down on the bed. He let out a breath and Shaun could feel his chest rise and then fall fast. “Did Duncan tell you how he found that gun?”

                “No.”

                “Hm.”

                Now Shaun was almost sure he had said something wrong. He was going to apologize when Mister MacCready squeezed him tight the way Mom always did.

                “I’m sorry you boys were scared, Shaun.” Mister MacCready hugged him again before setting him down on the bed so he could sit now that he was calmer. “You never have to defend yourselves like that—me or your Mom or Preston will _always_ be here to take care of you two, alright?”

                “Okay.”

                “And I’ll teach you boys how to shoot someday. I promise.” He sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Just not yet. Okay?”

                “O-okay.” Shaun wasn’t so sure about that. If he had to protect him and Duncan again, he wouldn’t know how. But Mister MacCready seemed really upset about it, so Shaun let it go. Besides, if Mom saw him with a gun, she would freak out. She had been the maddest he’d ever seen her after Mister Danse had handed him a gun to show him how to use it. Mom had yelled for a whole ten minutes. He didn't want to know how mad she'd be if she knew he'd tried to shoot a Super Mutant.

                “Good. Now, I think it’s time to get back to bed, right?”

                Shaun hesitated, looking back across the dark hallway at his room. “Oh.”

                Mister MacCready raised an eyebrow but smiled. “Do you want to go get Duncan and sleep in here tonight, kiddo?”

                Shaun nodded. He didn’t want to admit to being scared, and he was grateful that Mister MacCready wasn’t going to make him say it out loud. But every time he looked out the window or at the hallway, he pictured a big green, ugly head with too many teeth and guns and grenades and it was going to punch him and—

                Mister MacCready got up and walked over to get Duncan, leaving Shaun alone for a second. He realized he was still wearing shoes, so he kicked off his sneakers and crawled under the covers in his clothes. Mom would have made him put on pajamas, but Mister MacCready usually let him and Duncan sleep in their clothes. He said it made it easier to get everyone dressed in the morning. Across the hall, Duncan made a sleepy noise, before shouting.

                “Daddy? Daddy!” Lots of babbling. Duncan must have been _really_ excited. He could hear Duncan and Mister MacCready talking quietly. Must be nice to have your parent back so fast. Shaun tried really hard not to start crying again because Mom would be home soon, right? Mister MacCready came back in a second, holding Duncan. He set Dunc down next to Shaun, and the two boys nestled up under the covers. It was weird to snuggle up together without Mom, and Shaun felt a pang again and wondered if she missed him too.


	5. Big Boys Don't Cry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The surprise for Mister MacCready was a bust anyways.

                The surprise for Mister MacCready didn’t quite pan out the way they’d wanted it to. Duncan blabbed almost immediately when he woke up in the morning and then yelled “surprise!” as if that would help. Mister MacCready still pretended to be surprised for Duncan, but Shaun was sure he was faking it. When they made a present for _Mom_ , Shaun decided that Duncan was not going to be allowed to talk to her till they’d given her the surprise.

                Duncan still wanted to go through with it, even though Mister MacCready _knew_ about the surprise, and they hadn’t even managed to get the cake. He shoved at Mister MacCready’s knees until he was out the door, and told him not to come back unless he was called. Which, to be honest, Shaun thought was a little silly. It can’t be a surprise if Duncan’s Dad already _knows._

                Uncle Preston stopped by a couple minutes later, but Shaun suspected that Mister MacCready had sent him to make sure that they didn’t make too much of a mess of the house. They decided to go with their original plan, so Uncle Preston ran out to Sheffield at the bar to buy as many snack cakes as he could so they could put them all on a plate. Shaun slumped onto the couch while they waited. Duncan was bouncing around on the balls of his feet and talking non-stop about how excited he was. Shaun tried real hard not to sulk.

                When they had all of the snack cakes they could need, they set about unwrapping them. They came in these weird little boxes, and Shaun sliced his finger on the first one he opened. Uncle Preston said it would be okay, but it hurt. Duncan ate one of the little cakes when he thought no one was looking (both Shaun _and_ Uncle Preston caught him, and he had frosting all over his cheeks), but he didn’t get in trouble, even though he was ruining the cake. There were nine, so they made a circle and covered the plate as best they could. Uncle Preston had even grabbed a candle they could put in the middle, to make it look special.

                It looked like a mess. Duncan had been too rough and a couple of the cakes were all crumbly, and the candle was a little too big and almost pushed one of the cakes off the plate. Uncle Preston set the whole mess on the counter and Duncan hopped down from the stool he’d been standing on.

                “Should we go get Daddy?”

                “Yeah, Dunc.” Shaun kicked his feet against the counter gently. The rubber soles of his sneakers squeaked against the wood. “Sure.”

                Duncan practically ran for the door, even though Uncle Preston said to slow down, and went looking for Mister MacCready. Preston took Duncan’s stool beside him and Shaun looked over out of the corner of his eye.

                “It’s rough without your mum here, isn’t it, Shaun?”

                Shaun tapped his fingers. “No.”

                “So you _don’t_ miss your mom?” Uncle Preston set his elbows on the table and leaned forward a bit to look at him.

                “No.”

                “Well,” Uncle Preston said. “ _I_ miss her. She’s my best friend.”

                “Well I don’t.”                                                                                                                                        

                “You said that.”

                “Cuz I don’t.”

                Uncle Preston wrapped an arm around his shoulder and squeezed and Shaun felt tears prickle in the corners of his eyes. He sniffed and scrubbed his fists over his eyes before Uncle Preston could catch him.

                “It’s okay to miss your mom, kiddo. And it’s okay to be sad, alright?”

                Shaun nodded. He felt ridiculous. Everyone was so nice to him, and Mister MacCready was even pretending to be surprised so they could still give him his present, and he was a big kid, and big kids don’t cry.

                After a second, Duncan and Mister MacCready came back, and Duncan was so excited he was yelling (Shaun _hated_ yelling—that was one thing Wastelanders did a lot that he would never get used to). Shaun scrubbed his hand over his face again as Duncan led Mister MacCready forward, holding his hand while Mister MacCready covered his eyes. Duncan shouted “ta-da!” and Mister MacCready scooped him up and hugged him and acted all surprised, even though he was definitely not surprised. He came over after a minute and hugged Shaun too. Shaun skootched off the stool and sat himself on the couch on the other side of the counter.

                “Thanks boys!” Mister MacCready handed out individual snack cakes. The one Shaun got had a fingerprint in it where Duncan had squeezed it too hard trying to unwrap it. Uncle Preston flopped down onto the couch next to him while talking about something or other. Shaun wasn’t really paying attention.

                Back at the Institute, he was never alone. He got to play quietly for a few hours a day, then he got to watch the other children, and in between, he would eat meals with Doctor Li, who was very nice and sometimes even snuck him treats. No matter where he went, either Doctor Li or Doctor Watson was there to talk to him or sit with him, which was nice. He liked living with Mom, but it had been nice to never feel alone.

                Shaun hadn’t noticed Duncan launching himself over the counter and onto the couch, and was surprised when Duncan tumbled down on top of him, nearly elbowing him in the head.

                “Hey! Duncan, ow!” Shaun tried to shove him off, but Duncan flailed.

                Uncle Preston helped right the little boy, and then set him on the couch, between Shaun and himself. Shaun could hear Mister MacCready saying something stern.

                “Duncan, that wasn’t nice.” Shaun rubbed his head. “You’re getting too crazy.”

                Duncan giggled an apology, which wasn’t really much of an apology, Shaun didn’t think. Shaun crossed his arms, but Duncan went on laughing like it was all funny, which it wasn’t. Finally, he asked Mister MacCready to read the Grognak story to them. That had been _Shaun’s_ idea.

                Mister MacCready settled into the couch under the window, and Duncan scrambled down to go sit with his dad. Good riddance. Duncan curled up and Mister MacCready hugged him tight—so tight that Shaun thought he was going to crush Duncan. Mister MacCready was reading now, but Shaun had missed the first part and couldn’t see any of the pictures from across the room. There wasn’t enough room on that couch for Shaun to squish in and see any of the pictures, which wasn’t fair because it had been his idea to get the comic anyways. Uncle Preston wasn’t even watching. He’d stood up and started to clean off the counter. Shaun was all alone on that big red couch where he’d fallen asleep with Mom a little while back.

                Shaun slid off the couch and ran out the front door of the house.


	6. Dad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Family is what you make it.

                The teddy bear was missing an eye. The little plastic eye had popped off a long time ago, before Mom even gave it to him. She had found another (not the same color—the bear had one green eye, and the plastic eye sitting on her dresser was blue) but she hadn’t had time to sew the second eye on yet. She wasn’t so good at sewing, but she said she would fix it.

                He and Duncan each had a bear up here, in the clubhouse. Mom had made sure that they each had a sleeping bag (so they could camp outside if they wanted to) a pillow, and a teddy bear. Duncan’s bear had both eyes, but that wasn’t as special, Shaun didn’t think. He hugged the bear to his chest. It was soft and smelled like soap. Mom had said that he could hug the bear whenever he missed her, and it would be like she was hugging him back. That was all silly kid stuff—toys don’t hug back—but he squeezed the bear tight anyways.

                He didn’t mean to cause a fuss. At the Institute, if he had just stormed off like that when he was mad, Dr. Li would have talked his ear off for being disrespectful. He scrunched up his knees until he was a little ball in the corner of the clubhouse.

                After a minute, he heard a knock at the door. The doors didn’t lock, but it was nice of whoever it was to knock anyways.

                “Shaun?” It was Mister MacCready. “Do you mind if I come in, buddy?”

                “Okay.” That wasn’t a good answer. Mister MacCready had asked if he _minded_ , not for permission. Shaun picked at the teddy bear’s missing eye. The door creaked open, and then he heard Mister MacCready on the ladder coming up to the little loft. Mom had barely fit the last time she’d sat up here with him—Mister MacCready had to sit on the edge of the loft and let his feet dangle to fit.

                “Hey, Shaun.”

                “Hey.”

                “You alright?”

                “Fine.”

                Shaun let his head rest on the teddy bear like it was a pillow. He couldn’t see, but he could hear Mister MacCready shifting around to look at him. When he pulled his head back up, Mister MacCready was sitting hunched over, across from him on the sleeping bag, legs crossed.

                “I love your mom a lot too.” Mister MacCready rested his chin on his hand. “It’s hard when she isn’t home.”

                What did Mister MacCready know? _He_ still had Duncan.

                “Are you upset because you miss your Mom?”

                Shaun dropped his head down onto his knees. He should answer. It isn’t polite to ignore people, but he didn’t have any words he could say. Mister MacCready waited a second before shifting. He felt the sleeping bag move, and then Mister MacCready was next to him. He peeked out to confirm, but Mister MacCready had moved so that they were sitting side-by-side, even though there wasn’t enough room in the loft.

                “Did I ever tell you that I grew up underground too, Shaun?”

                “What?” Shaun poked his head back up and looked at Mister McCready. “No.”

                “I did. I used to be the mayor of a little town with only kids in an old cave.”

                “You’re making that up.”

                “Nope. It’s out in the Capitol Wasteland, where Duncan came from.” The sun shined bright through the window right under the roof. Mister MacCready reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, folded into a tiny square. “Duncan’s mom and I both grew up there. It was really hard with no mun—grown-ups, but we took care of each other.”

                Mister MacCready picked up Duncan’s teddy bear and smoothed its fur.

                “Sometimes, right before bed, I would wonder who my parents were. I never met them, yannow, so I would wonder if they were nice, or if they were raiders, or if they were even alive.”

                “Sounds lonely,” Shaun mumbled.

                “Sometimes. But I always had Lucy and the other kids there. And when I was sad, I could just talk to one of them.”

                “Did you ever find your parents?”

                “No.”

                Shaun looked up at Mister MacCready. Mister MacCready didn’t look like any of the people he had known at the Institute. There was something about him that was just different. He was a little taller than Mom, but really skinny, which was weird, he guessed. He had bad teeth and all his clothes were torn or ragged or dirty. In fact, he was about as opposite what Shaun was used to as he could be. Shaun couldn’t picture Mister MacCready as a kid like him, living with no parents in a cave.

                “How’d Duncan’s mom die?” Shaun realized belatedly that asking about Mister MacCready’s dead wife might be a little rude, but it was too late now.

                “Lucy?”

                “Yeah, his mom.”

                “Feral ghouls.” Mister MacCready looked away when he said it, and turned the folded-up piece of paper in his hands. “When Duncan was a baby, she was attacked.”

                “Oh. I’m sorry.” He didn’t know what feral ghouls were, but now didn’t seem like a good time to ask.

                “That’s alright.”

                “Do you miss her?”

                “I do.”

                “Does Duncan miss her?”

                Mister MacCready thought for a moment, but then said “I think so.”

                Shaun looked down at the teddy bear.

                “Mister MacCready?” He had just found Mom, but he had never known his Dad. The opposite of Duncan. “Can you miss someone you never met?”

                “Sure. I mean, Duncan didn’t really know his mom before she…passed.”

                “Oh.”

                “Oh?”

                Shaun looked down at his feet. When he would watch the other children, he would always focus in on Alice and Julia. They were sisters, and their mom (Dr. Thompkins) worked with Dr. Li. He never got to talk to them, but they seemed like nice girls. He would always see their father playing with them—running around, playing hide-and-seek. Sometimes, the girls and their dad would come visit Dr. Thompkins in the lab if she was late for lunch. A whole family—no people missing.

                “Shaun, is this about your dad?”

                Shaun dug his finger into a hole in his jeans and picked at a loose thread. Mister MacCready waited for a second before resting a hand on his shoulder.

                “Wait here for a second, okay?”

                Mister MacCready climbed down the stairs and Shaun watched him head back for the house through the window at his back. Duncan was waiting in the doorway. Mister MacCready pat Duncan’s head but kept moving until he passed into the house. He came back out a minute later holding one of mom’s broken old radios under his arm. Shaun turned away from the window so it didn’t look like he was pining. He wasn’t, afterall—just curious.

                Mister MacCready sat back down next to him—all scrunched up like before—and set the radio down on the floor.

                “Shaun, I have something of your mum’s that might help, okay?” He pulled a little holotape out of his pocket and slid it into place in the tape-deck on the back of the radio.

                “This is your mom’s holo. Your dad made it for her right after you were born.”

                Shaun looked up at Mister MacCready. He was smiling, but it wasn’t the usual smile. Shaun looked back down at the radio.

                “Do you want to hear your dad’s voice, Shaun?”

                Shaun looked up at Mister MacCready, and then back down at the radio. Yes, he _did_ really want to hear his dad’s voice. It shouldn’t matter; his dad had been dead since he was a baby. But he’d always be curious if he didn’t hear it now. He nodded, and Mister MacCready pressed “play.”

                There was some noise at first, baby noises, and then his dad spoke. His voice was warm and deep—Shaun had never heard another voice like it. He tried to think back through all the grown-ups he’d ever heard talk, but there was no voice like this one. His tone was warm, like Mom’s, and surprisingly soft. He made the connection that the baby in the background of the tape must have been himself. More than anything, he wished suddenly that he could remember being a baby, because then he would be able to remember his dad holding him and playing with him and making this tape for Mom.

                 He said some nice things about mom and then the tape ended. It was short—no more than a minute.

_Bye honey, we love you._

                He imagined that voice saying that to _him_. His Dad, saying “I love you, Shaun,” like Mom did.

                He was crying. He hadn’t even noticed the tears spilling down his cheeks. Well, that was dumb. It wasn’t as if he’d known his father. But he couldn’t help himself. He crammed his fists into his eyes and ducked his head down so Mister MacCready wouldn’t see.

                “Do you think mom misses my dad?”          

                “She does. She loves him very much. But she also loves you, and me, and Duncan, and Preston, and Dogmeat, and all her friends.”

                Shaun scooched a little closer to Mister MacCready and Mister MacCready wrapped an arm around him.

                “If there’s one thing being the mayor of kid-town taught me, it’s that family is what you make it.” Mister MacCready squeezed him close. “Sometimes you lose people, but you’re all still family at the end of the day.”

                When Mister MacCready hugged him, Shaun _felt_ like part of his family. Mister MacCready wasn’t _really_ his dad, but that didn’t matter, did it? He wrapped his arms around Mister MacCready’s neck and for a minute, they just sat there in the loft of the clubhouse. Finally, Mister MacCready pat his head and helped him down the stairs and back into the house. After all, he pointed out, Uncle Preston and Duncan couldn’t _possibly_ finish all those snack-cakes alone.


	7. Radio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Incoming Transmission!

Shaun, Duncan, and Mister MacCready had just sat down for dinner when Uncle Preston came running into the house. Mister MacCready was up on his feet before Shaun could even put down his fork, and reached out for the rifle propped against the wall.

                “Preston, everything alright?”

                “Yes, yes!” He rubbed a sleeve across his forehead. “Sorry, MacCready. Didn’t mean to startle you. It’s Lola. She found a way to radio us from the island.”

                “Radio?” Mister MacCready set the gun back down and wiped his hands on his jeans. He glanced at Duncan and then at Shaun, like he wasn’t sure what was happening. “Whaddya mean?”

                “We just got an incoming transition on the Minutemen’s station from Lola.” Uncle Preston looked over at Shaun and smiled real big. “Shaun, do you want to talk to your mum?”

                Shaun pushed away from the counter and hopped down from his stool immediately. His tongue felt all wiggly in his mouth—like it couldn’t move right to make words—so he nodded his head. Duncan followed him and Mister MacCready scooped the little kid up as they headed across the street to the common house, which had all the radio rigging for the Minutemen. When they crossed through the living room into one of the back rooms, they passed Cait, who was on her way out. She must have been talking to Mom. _They were gonna get to talk to Mom._

                Sturges waved “hi” from in front of the big radio rig that was set up against the wall. There was a whole coffee table covered with speakers, a clunky control board, little transmitters with dials and knobs, and one beat-up microphone. Shaun had been meaning to ask if he could take the radio apart to see how it worked, but he was so glad he hadn’t.

                “Miss Lola?”

                “Loud and clear!” Mom’s voice was garbled and a little tinny, like she was talking into a metal box, but it was definitely Mom. Static crackled—a quiet hum in between words.

                “Mac and the boys are here to see you, Missus.”

                “Thanks Sturges!” Pause. “Hi boys, how have you been?”

                If Shaun closed his eyes, he could pretend she was standing right there in the room with him.

                Sturges held out a microphone and pressed the “talk” button. Duncan leaned in and said “hi Lola!” Mom laughed on the other end and said “hey, Dunc!”

                “Hi Mom!” Shaun closed his eyes.

                “Hiya Shaun! How’ve you been?”

                “Good. Uncle Preston let me take apart one of the water purifiers the other day.”

                “Did he now?”

                “Yup! And Sturges helped me clean out the filters and put it back together” He could picture her smiling. If he imagined hard enough, he could picture them sitting on the couch at home. Mom would give him a hug and curl up sitting on her feet like she usually did.

                “Sounds like you’ve been busy!”

                “I helped,” Duncan chimed in. “I held the toolbox!”

                “That’s wonderful, Duncan!”

                Mom would sit in between him and Duncan so she could hug both of them at once like she always did. She would brush his hair back from his forehead, even though it would just flop back down after she fixed it anyways.

                “Mama Murphy showed me how to plant tatos too.”

                “Really? How do you plant tatos, then?

                “You have to bury them reeeeeally deep in the ground. You even cover some of the little leaves at the bottom. Mama Murphy said that. They start out really tiny, but if you bury them right, she said they’re really strong, and they grow to be tall. That’s when you have to build them little houses with stakes so they can climb them.”

                “Wow! Are you going to build the tatos houses, Shaun?”

                “Yup!” He smiled. Of _course_ he was going to build the tatos houses. They weren’t really houses, so much, as they were little three-legged stands, but Mr. Long had called them “houses” and that seemed really nice. “Sturges already gave me some wood and a couple of nails. I built one yesterday, and Mama Murphy said it was perfect!”

                “I’m so proud of you, Shaun!” If they were sitting on the couch together, Mom would squeeze him to her side and kiss the top of his head. “I can’t wait to see all the tatos you grow!”

                She couldn’t wait to see them. But she couldn’t see them right now. Because she wasn’t here. He opened his eyes. Mister MacCready was kneeling next to him with one arm around Duncan. Sturges was crouched down in front of him, still holding the microphone. He felt like some of the air had been let out of his lungs.

                “Mom?”

                “Yes, sweetheart?”

                “When are you coming home?”

                There was a staticky pause before Mom said “I don’t know, Shaun.”

                 “Oh.” He kicked the toe of his sneaker over a floor tile that was sticking up a little.

                “But I’ll try to be home soon, okay?”

                “Okay.” Shaun thought that “soon” wasn’t “now” or “in a couple of days.” “Soon” could _really_ mean “not soon.” He kicked the floor tile again and it lifted a bit.

                “Hey.”

                “What?”

                “I love you, Shaun, alright?”

                “I love you, Mom.”

                “I’ll come home to you soon, sweetie. I promise. Just have to tie up a couple of loose ends with your Uncle Nicky, okay?”

                “Okay.”

                “Now give Duncan and Mister MacCready a hug for me.”

                “Yes, Mom.” He didn’t move.

                “I don’t hear any hugging.”

                Of course she knew if he was doing what he was told. She _always_ knew—some kinda Mom super power. He turned around and Mister MacCready held out his free arm. Shaun squeezed Mister MacCready and Duncan tight for a whole minute before turning back to the radio.

                “Good,” Mom said through the static. “Now, it is getting dark out here, so I’m thinking it is time for you boys to head to bed. Goodnight Duncan, goodnight Shaun! I love you both very much.”

                He didn’t want to leave Mom, but her tone was final. He couldn’t argue with his Mom. Shaun and Duncan said goodnight, and Mister MacCready said something to Sturges before walking them home. He tucked them both in and read them a little bit of Grognak before turning out the lights. Duncan fell asleep almost immediately—he always did. Shaun was still awake when Mister MacCready snuck back out of the house. Shaun jumped out of bed as soon as he heard the front door click shut. He watched through the window in Mom’s room as Mister MacCready walked back to the Common house alone to say goodnight to Mom.

                He waited for a minute before wandering back to his room to curl up in bed. Little lights from the infirmary next door danced around the ceiling as that new lady, Miss Curie, paced around the hospital. He didn’t get to see Mom, but she was out there, and she was going to come home soon. She’d promised.


	8. Presents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shaun figures out the perfect present for Mom.

It had been a couple of weeks since she had radioed them. There hadn’t been word since. Uncle Preston said that she was probably just too busy to reach the radio, but Mister MacCready had made a face at that and had gone outside to smoke. He tried to hide out in the garage so he and Duncan wouldn’t see it, but Shaun could always smell it on his coat and hands when he came back in. Mister MacCready only smoked when he was upset.

                At dinner that night, Shaun nudged the cooked carrots with his fork. He had been thinking of things he could make Mom since she’d left and he’d still come up empty-handed. He’d started to build her something yesterday (he thought he could get an old coffee maker up and running), but it just hadn’t come out right and he’d nearly caught the shed on fire. Sturges and Uncle Preston wouldn’t have liked that. Besides, he didn’t have a plan. He needed a plan. Mister MacCready’s surprise had been hard enough to pull off, and Mom’s surprise had to be _perfect_.

                They’d been talking about it over dinner for the past few nights. Duncan kept suggesting more snack cakes, but Shaun figured that Duncan only suggested snack cakes because he wanted some.

 **“** You know what Lo—your mom _really_ loves?”

                Shaun looked up to see Mister MacCready pushing his food around with a fork too.

                “What?”

                “Music.”

                “Music?” Shaun leaned forward on his stool. He rolled the idea around in his head for a minute. _Music._

                “We could sing!” Duncan had already eaten all of his supper, but half of his carrots were still in his cheek (he didn’t like carrots), so he almost spit food all over the table. Shaun handed him a napkin and his water so he could wash those carrots down before he choked. Duncan made a face.

                Mister MacCready looked at Shaun for a second, thinking. Finally, he said “if you boys wanted to get her something, why don’t we go grab the broken jukebox from the Red Rocket and fix that up?”

                “How will we fix it, daddy?” Duncan wouldn’t fix _anything._ He was still a little too rough with his toys to be trusted around tools. Mom and Mister MacCready told Shaun not to let Duncan play with any of the prototypes Shaun had hanging around.

                “I dunno, Dunc. Why don’t we ask Shaun?” Mister MacCready smiled. Both sets of blue eyes were on him now.

                “What’s broken on it?” The cogs in his brain were already whirring to life. If it was anything like a radio, there were several pieces that could need replacing. They had electrical components in the workshop, and the general store might have more. He could easily replace some of the little things.

                “Not sure,” Mister MacCready said. “But I bet we’ll figure it out!”

                Duncan fell asleep as soon as he was tucked in, like usual, but Shaun was up so late his eyes burned, stripping and reassembling radios in his head.

                The next morning, Shaun, Duncan, and Mister MacCready set off for the Red Rocket station down the road. It was a short walk, and they could see the settlement from Sanctuary’s gates. The station was a smaller place, but with high walls Mom had helped build. She called it the stronghold. Mister MacCready held Shaun and Duncan’s hands as they walked past the guard booths in the garage. The commons, bathrooms, and shops were below, in the station and where all the pumps would have been. The living quarters were upstairs, on the roof. Mom had shown him around this place once, when they had been looking for another kid for Shaun and Duncan to play with.

                The old jukebox was sitting in the corner by the back door, all beat up. Mister MacCready had brought Duncan’s wagon to cart it back home, but it took four people to lift the jukebox into the wagon, and Mister MacCready had to ask one of the settlement’s guards to help him get it across the bridge and to the workshop.

                Duncan wasn’t a lot of help, but Shaun led the way and made sure to point out potholes or loose slats of wood on the bridge so they didn’t accidentally tip the whole thing over. Mister MacCready pushed the wagon, while the guard (Miss Jessica) used the handle to steer. The workshop was down the hill and by the water pump and the river, so they decided to put it on the carport next to the Common House instead of going over the grass with the wagon. After they unloaded it, Sturges came over to give it a look and make sure it was fixable. He pried off the panel in the back, poked around for a second, and laughed. Duncan crouched down next to him, mimicking his posture to see if he could figure out what Sturges was looking at.

                “Hey, little man!” Sturges ruffled his hair. “Lookin’ to fix this up, are ya?”

                “It’s for my Mom.”

                “I’m sure she’ll love it.” Sturges had an easy smile. He never looked too worried about anything. Shaun sat cross-legged on the floor next to Sturges to try and see what he was pointing at.  
“Anywho! Condenser’s still fine. Playing mechanism’s good. One of the connector do-dads melted a while back, but I think I have one in the shed we could use. All you really gotta do is change a few fuses and clean her up a bit! She’ll be right as rain in no time!”

                Shaun saw the connector he was talking about—a little warped brick of plastic on the end of a black cord. The blown fuses were pretty easy to spot too. The glass casings on the broken ones were jagged and the metal caps at the top was missing. He would need Sturges’ help getting them out without cutting his fingers, but he could put new ones in all by himself. Mister MacCready and Duncan were standing back a bit, watching him.

                “So, whaddya think, Shaun? Is this a good surprise?”

                Shaun reached out and touched one of the wires tentatively. Finally, after poking through as gently as he could, he nodded up at them with a hunk of jukebox casing in one hand, and a pair of small pliers from his toolbox in the other.

 

                It took him a week to get the thing working. At first, he didn’t notice one of the wires was practically in two pieces. He had Sturges pull all the broken fuses, and then plugged new ones into place gently. He only needed to replace six of the fourteen fuses, which was fewer than he’d thought. Sturges showed him how to detach the old connector head and replace it, but wouldn’t let him touch it (live wires, he said). Shaun wanted to point out that he had fiddled with things that had live wires before and knew what to do, but he didn’t want Sturges to tell Mom that. She didn’t exactly _know_ that he’d taken apart one of the turrets by the bath house.

                Once the new connector was secured, it should have worked. But it didn’t. He plunked back down in front of it and set back to work, disconnecting and reconnecting everything. That didn’t help either. Sturges had to leave by then and told Shaun not to touch anything electrical until he came back. Shaun didn’t see the harm in just tweaking some of the fuses.

                That _still_ didn’t help. But, by then it was dinnertime, and Mister MacCready all but scooped him up to walk him back home across the street.

                Shaun was up before any of the settlers the next morning—jumping out of bed while the sky was still waking up. He scarfed down a quick bowl of Sugar Bombs, grabbed a water, and ran back to his workstation. Somehow, he’d thought that he’d wake up and have the answer, but even when he disconnected and reconnected all the fuses _super carefully,_ the thing still wouldn’t turn on. Miss Curie was one of the first people to wake up, and came over to say hi. She always said the funniest things and gave him the warmest hugs. While she hadn’t been at Sanctuary for long, both Shaun and Duncan had decided that they liked her. Miss Curie made a “tut-tutting” noise, and suggested he wait until he had proper supervision. He said “okay!” and then waited for her to leave before plunking back down onto the carport.

                Sturges was going to be busy patching up the Northernmost wall today, but came by after most everyone had eaten breakfast to suggest dusting off some of the electrical bits real carefully. He _also_ said that Shaun should wait for a grown-up, but Shaun was getting really tired of that suggestion by now.

                Mister MacCready and Duncan came over with lunch when the sun was high in the sky. Shaun took a break from wiping every inch of the jukebox to sit down to some sliced cram and tatos.

                “How’s it coming along, kiddo?” Mister MacCready handed him a fresh water.

                “I don’t know.” Shaun didn’t want to say _bad,_ because it wasn’t coming along badly, really. Just stubborn. He stabbed a forkful of Cram. “I can’t get it to turn on.”

                Duncan had a mouthful of food, but spit out “wanhelp?”

                “No, Dunc. That’s okay.”

                “Hmm.” Mister MacCready looked just past him at the jukebox and shrugged. “Well, we can have Sturges take another look, right Shaun?”

                “He already looked.”

                “Oh.”

                They were quiet for a bit—even Duncan, who was lost in his lunch. The three of them sat on the grass beside the house, squinting in the bright sun. Was it sunny where Mom was?

                “Hey! Shaun!” Mister MacCready dropped his backpack down in the middle of their little circle and opened up the top flap. “Guess what Dunc and I found?”

                He pulled out one of those old-world red-and-white pennant banners. The banner wasn’t in perfect shape, but it wasn’t in terrible shape either. Next to that, he set down some snack cakes (which _must_ have been Duncan’s idea), some paper, and some old crayons from before the war.

                “Duncan and I have been getting decorations, isn’t that right, buddy?”

                Duncan grabbed for the crayons and handed them to Shaun with a triumphant “we did!”

                Shaun turned the package over in his hands. He wasn’t going to cry. It would be silly to cry. They were being nice. It didn’t mean anything that their gift was already working better than his.

                Mister MacCready tugged off his hat and set it on Shaun’s head. The brim slumped down over his eyes, distracting him. When he looked up, Mister MacCready smiled.

                “There! Now the sun won’t get in your eyes while you’re working.”

 

                The afternoon went by fast. Before he realized it, night had settled and Mister MacCready was walking over to get him. It had taken him all afternoon to clean less than _half_ of the jukebox. He hadn’t even made it to the speakers yet.

                After a couple of days of what Sturges called “elbow grease,” the jukebox was finally perfectly clean—top to bottom. Shaun disconnected everything, reassembled the whole jukebox, and turned it on.

                Nothing.

                He sat down on the ground, looking up at the monstrosity glaring back.

                He didn’t argue that night when Mister MacCready told him to come in for dinner. When he was told to go to bed, he crawled right under the covers and closed his eyes. Only, he didn’t fall asleep. He could hear the whole house snoring, but he was wide awake. He tossed and turned a few times before he made up his mind to get up out of bed and go look at the radio again.

                Shaun had never snuck out of the house before. Mom would have been so upset. Mister MacCready would be worried senseless if he found out. But Shaun found it surprisingly easy to slip right out the front door.

                He didn’t turn on the big light when he got to the commonhouse carport. If he woke someone up, he would _definitely_ be in trouble. Instead, he retrieved one of the small desk lamps from inside.

                He had barely clicked it on when a voice said “what are you doing?”

                It took him a second to process, and then the tall man and long coat came into memory. One of Father’s Coursers. X6-88. Mom had brought him home to Sanctuary just before leaving with Uncle Nicky. He had seen X6 around the Institute before Mom brought him home, but never for more than a few seconds. Truth be told, the Coursers always kinda scared him. You didn’t talk to a courser unless you did something real bad.

                “Uhh hi!” He tried _really_ hard to sound tough, but his voice wavered.

                “I’m sure Direc— _Miss_ Clover would be displeased to see you out this late Shaun.”

_How did X6 know his name?_

                Shaun nodded, looking back at the jukebox. X6 looked back at him again, and then folded his arms over his chest.

                “Are you planning on returning to bed?”

                This time, Shaun managed to shake his head. The Courser shrugged. He was one of Mom’s friends, right? She would never let anyone get near Sanctuary if she knew they were planning on hurting him, right?

                X6 looked down at him, and then over at the jukebox. So silently it was almost creepy, he crouched down next to Shaun.

                “Are you trying to fix this?”

                “Yes.”

                “Have you replaced all the fuses?”

                “Yes.”

                “Have you plugged everything back in?”

                “Yes.”

                After a second, X6 reached past him, sifting through the wires with his fingertips.

                “You should not be working on this alone, Shaun.”

                Was this a dream? He _had_ to be dreaming. He followed X6’s movements until they both saw it at the same time. One of the wires in the back was cut almost in half.

                “Aha!” He hadn’t meant to shout. He was just excited was all. X6 didn’t jump or startle at the loud noise.

                “Sorry,” Shaun apologized all the same. X6 didn’t respond.

                “Do you have electrical tape?” His voice was steady and even.

                “I think Mom has some in the workshop.” The workshop was all the way down the hill and Shaun wasn’t sure he wanted to walk that far tonight by himself. X6 looked at him for a minute before nodding. He stood up and Shaun had to run to keep up as they headed down the hill. Something about this seemed familiar (although, that happened a lot) and Shaun thought back until he remembered that he _knew_ X6. Not just as any courser, but a specific one. X6 had been the one to take him from Mister Kellogg. He had still been scary and quiet, but he had held Shaun’s hand on the way to see Father, which was nice. Most Coursers just ignored him.

                X6 flipped on the lights in the warehouse so that Shaun could go find the electrical tape. It was harder to come by, so Mom usually kept it up in the loft. He slid the tape onto his wrist and ran back down the stairs.

                He and X6 walked back in silence, but once they were talking about the radio, it was easy to chat. X6 knew _everything_ about radios. He pinched the wires between his fingers and showed Shaun the little copper wires _inside_ the wires.

                “You need to twist these together.”

                He moved so Shaun could wedge himself inside the jukebox to twist both pieces of wire back together. X6 inspected his work, and then nodded. After taping that up, they looked at a couple of other wires. Most were alright, though one or two needed some help. Finally, X6 leaned back on his hands, relaxed. Shaun closed the back of the machine and gently turned the volume knob.

                Nothing happened. He groaned in frustration and kicked his toolbox. He hadn’t kicked it hard—just nudged it with his toe, really—but it spilled over and all the tools clattered against the ground. He saw the light in Mister MacCready’s room click on. _Busted._

X6 was sweeping up the tools right as Mister MacCready came out the front door.

                “Shaun? Shaun, what are you doing up?”

                “I—uh—I just had to—”

                “Shaun and I are making sure this music player is repaired for Director Clover’s return.” X6 stood up. He was tall, just like Shaun remembered, but he looked even taller next to Mister MacCready, who was Mom’s height. Mister MacCready eyeballed X6 before looking back at Shaun.

                “Couldn’t sleep, huh?”

                Shaun shook his head.

                “Alright then. Since we’re all up.” Mister MacCready walked into the kitchen of the commonhouse and came back with two bottles of beer and a snack cake. He tossed Shaun the snack cake and handed a beer to X6. Shaun grinned wide. If he had woken up and started wandering around in the middle of the night at the Institute, Dr. Li would have chewed his ear off lecturing him. In fact, X6 probably would have been the one who caught him. But here they were, _way_ past bedtime, eating snacks and taking the jukebox apart again to make sure the fuses were in place. Shaun adjusted all of them again and then closed up the back panel.

                It didn’t turn on that time either, so they stripped it back down. Or, really, Shaun and X6 stripped it back down while Mister MacCready made jokes. Shaun coulda sworn he saw X6’s lip twitch at a joke about the wires and motors or something, but Shaun didn’t quite get that one.

                Late, when Mister MacCready was mumbling and half-asleep and X6 was sitting back on his heels, Shaun figured out what was wrong. The wire they’d fixed was fine, the fuses were fine, everything was dusted, but he hadn’t plugged the broken connector back in all the way. It was hanging half out of the socket. He hadn’t noticed because it was angled oddly, and crammed into a tight space way in the back.

                His surprised shout startled X6 and woke up Mister MacCready.

                “I found it!” Shaun plugged the connector in and made sure it was cinched down before scrambling to put the back piece onto the jukebox. X6 twisted the screws back into place and then all three of them sat around it, waiting.

                “Well, you ready, Shaun?”

                He looked back up at Mister MacCready and X6. Mister MacCready looked tired—he had grey smudges under his eyes and he yawned widely without covering his mouth. X6 had his sunglasses tucked into the collar of his shirt, and looked kinda like he usually did with his blank expression, although, Shaun would swear he could see the hint of a grin.

                Looking back at the jukebox, he reached out carefully and switched it on. The lights in the domed top flickered to life, and there was a quiet staticky sound.

                “I believe you have to select a song, Shaun.” X6 nudged him gently.

                Shaun looked through the options and found the one Mom always danced to in the kitchen.

                _Ooooooh I’m the type of guy who never settles down…_                                                                                                

                He did it.

                _He did it!_

                Mister MacCready jumped up and whooped loudly, punching his fist into the air. X6 leaned back from the jukebox and Shaun was _sure_ a smile twitched at his lips. The music played out even clearer than it did over the radio.

                “Good job, Shaun! You got it working!” Shaun looked up at Mister MacCready and X6. The sky was turning that light blue-grey that meant the sun was coming up, but he was too excited to be tired. He didn’t even realize he was gonna do it, but he threw his arms around Mister MacCready and X6 and hugged them both. When he let go (he didn’t want to be rude), Mister MacCready crouched down and ruffled his hair. He hugged Mister MacCready again.

                “It is almost morning, Shaun.” X6 adjusted his coat and looked out towards the gate. “I am going to return to my post.”

                “Goodnight, Mister X!”

                X6 looked down at him for a second and then he smiled—for real _smiled!_ Shaun had _never_ seen a courser smile before.

                “Goodnight, Shaun.”

                When Shaun waved, Mister MacCready looked like he was going to faint.

                “Well whaddya know. Wouldn’t have guessed that one.” Mister MacCready pat Shaun’s head again. “Alright, kiddo. Bedtime?”

                They made their way back across the street as the sky lightened and orange crept over the horizon.

                In the morning, when Duncan woke him up too early being noisy with his toys, Shaun wasn’t even upset.


	9. Mom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mom comes home!

                It was a sunny afternoon when Uncle Preston came charging through the door to the clubhouse. Shaun was trying to teach Duncan how to properly take apart a radio (now that he was an expert), and he dropped the screwdriver he was holding when the door banged open.. Duncan nearly fell off the couch and onto the floor, and Shaun felt all of his limbs lock up. Was it Super Mutants again? Raiders? He grabbed for Duncan’s little hand and squeezed. Uncle Preston looked out of breath, but when he made eye-contact, a smile broke out across his face—the kinda smile where you could see all of his teeth and his eyes crinkled. Shaun let go of Duncan’s hand.

                “Shaun!” Uncle Preston was breathing like he had just sprinted up a hill. “Come quick! Your Mom’s home!”

                For a second, he didn’t even move. He couldn’t process the words. Mom. Home. It sunk in a little and his knees wobbled. _Mom. Home._ It was like his feet couldn’t carry him fast enough. He took off out the door and rounded the Commonhouse onto the street. It felt like he was running through quicksand—like he saw in the comics. He hit the top of the hill and ran down. He wasn’t even sure if Uncle Preston or Duncan were keeping up.

                When he was finally close enough, he saw Mister MacCready hugging Mom tight—his arms wrapped all the way around her as he kissed her head. She had her face buried in his shoulder and didn’t see Shaun standing there. He didn’t want to be rude. Mister MacCready must have missed her too. Uncle Preston caught up carrying Duncan and cleared his throat.

                When Mom finally looked up, she locked eyes with Shaun immediately and let go of Mister MacCready. He was frozen. He couldn’t make his feet move towards her. Uncle Preston nudged his shoulder.

                Mom stumbled forward, crouched down in front of him, and scooped him up in her arms, squeezing him so tight he thought he couldn’t breathe. She pat his hair and kissed his face and he realized that she was crying. He touched her cheek and his fingers came away wet.

                “Mom, why are you sad? It’s me, Shaun.” 

                Mom leaned back a bit so she could look at him and he saw her laugh a little through tears—not like her normal laugh, but still happy.

                “I know, baby, I know.” She kissed his forehead again. “I just missed you so much!”

                Shaun felt a little bit like crying too.

                She ran her fingers through his hair and laughed again, like she had forgotten something.

                “Did Mac _ever_ make you comb your hair, Shaun?”

                Shaun didn’t know how to answer that without getting Mister MacCready in trouble, so he just closed his eyes and bumped his head into her hand. He liked it when Mom brushed his hair with her fingers. She squeezed him tight again like she would never let go.

                He felt Duncan nudge his arm and Mom started crying all over again as she pulled Duncan in too. Somewhere behind him, he heard Uncle Preston laugh quietly. She didn’t let go of them when she looked up at Preston and said “thank you for everything.”

                It seemed like a long time before Mom let go, but even then she picked Duncan up to perch him on her hip and held Shaun’s hand tight in her own. Uncle Preston hugged her (and Shaun and Duncan, when she wouldn’t let go). Mister MacCready pat her back.

                They stopped here and there to say hi to people on her way back to the house. Miss Cait punched her arm (but Mom didn’t seem to mind) and Miss Curie kissed both of her cheeks. Strong only nodded, but Mom said that was a lot coming from him. X-6 waved one hand from his post by the meeting house. She didn’t walk around to say hi to everyone, but steered them all towards their house.

                Uncle Preston gave her a quick side-hug before tipping his hat and heading out to help Sturges with something, leaving just Shaun, Duncan, Mister MacCready, and Mom in the living room. Before they had even sat down, Dogmeat came barreling through the door and almost knocked Mom over. She set Duncan down to pet the dog, who curled up at her feet when she finally dropped onto the sofa. Duncan scrambled onto the couch next to her, so Shaun took her other side. When he sat down, she wrapped an arm around him and pulled him in against her. He rested against her ribs while Duncan curled up with his head on her leg. Mom breathed deep and closed her eyes for a minute. Mister MacCready kissed her forehead before sitting down across from them on the loveseat.

                “I missed my boys,” she hummed. “What have you been up to since I left?”

                Duncan launched into a description of the latest Grognak comic Mister MacCready had been reading them, spreading his arms out wide while lying on his side. A couple of times he shouted, but Mom knew Shaun didn’t like shouting, so she brushed through his hair with her fingers again to calm him down. Mom always knew just what to do.

                When Duncan was done, Shaun told Mom all about the tatos he was learning to grow with Mr. Long. She loved the garden, and asked to see the tatos later. He felt his chest swell. Of _course_ Mom would want to see the tatos. She would be so proud.

                He was so excited that he almost forgot all about the jukebox.

                “Lola! Lola!” Duncan jumped up on his knees and grabbed her arm. “We gotta tell you! Shaun made you a—”

                _Oh no!_

                Shaun clapped his hand over Duncan’s mouth real quick and the words came out all muffled. She probably couldn’t hear him, right?

                _“Duncan,”_ he hissed through his teeth. “It’s a _surprise.”_

                Duncan sat back on his feet and said “oh.”

                “What surprise, Shaun?”

                Shaun looked from Mister MacCready to Duncan real fast, looking for an answer. It wasn’t time yet. They had to wait till nighttime so she could see the lights Sturges helped him put up.

                “Snackcake,” he blurted it out before finishing his thought. “We got you snack cakes.”

                Duncan’s eyes widened as he remembered the treats he and Mister MacCready had laid out and stuck in the broken fridge. He slid himself off the couch and ran over to get them. Mister MacCready helped because Duncan was too short to reach the shelf (and Shaun thought that Mister MacCready had put them so high up for exactly that reason). Duncan brought the plate over. They had made a little pile of them just like Shaun, Duncan, and Uncle Preston had when Mister MacCready came home.

                Mom smiled and took handed him a cake from the plate—one that wasn’t all squished. Duncan had tried to be gentler this time, but sometimes he still wasn’t so gentle, so most of the cakes had little holes where Duncan’s fingers had poked them. It was nice of her to give him one that wasn’t smushed.

                Duncan went to sit with Mister MacCready, crawling onto his lap. Mister MacCready looked over at Mom and she smiled back and sighed. Then she kissed Shaun’s hair again. Mom let him have two snack cakes, which was way more than she would usually let him eat. It was, after all, a special occasion. She didn’t even make him eat dinner first.

                They talked for a while after that, and she told them all about the island she went to—a place called Far Harbor. She said there were huge monsters and all sorts of gross lake monsters like the ones in the _Incredible Tales_ comics. Mister MacCready frowned at that, but Duncan wanted to hear all about the monsters. She told him, with her hands out in front of her as she set the scene, that she fought a Mirelurk Queen _all by herself._ Shaun didn’t know what a Mirelurk Queen was, but it made Mister MacCready turn green, so it must be a pretty scary thing.

                “Valentine let you do that?” He asked, sounding a little upset. Mom shrugged and Shaun felt her take a deep breath.

                “He wasn’t happy with it, but it made the harbormen trust me.”

                Mister MacCready sank back onto the couch and hugged Duncan close. He mouthed the word “later.” Shaun didn’t think he was _supposed_ to notice that, but he could read lips better than Mister MacCready thought, sometimes.

                Duncan of course asked if she’d brought him anything, because his Auntie Miri always brought him something when she went away. Mom held up one finger and dug through the backpack she’d left leaning against the couch.

                “I brought Vim for us to try!” She set a couple of bottles down on the table in front of them. “It is their special soda! And!” She rifled through the bag some more and Shaun heard something clanking. Finally, she pulled out two small cloth dolls—one with brown yarn hair, and the other with red. “These!”

                She handed Shaun the red-haired doll, and he realized the doll was wearing a miniature version of his favorite striped shirt. Duncan’s doll was wearing green, which was Duncan’s favorite color.

                “My friend Cassie made these for me after I did her a favor.”

                Shaun looked down at his doll. It had little black button eyes, and jeans and sneakers just like his. Mom must have asked Cassie to make it look like him from memory. He fixed the doll’s shirt as Duncan held his up to better look at it. Mister MacCready said “look, Dunc, he’s just like you!” He held the doll tight and decided that he could set it next to the teddy bear she’d gotten him.

                They shared the bottles of Vim, which were kinda like Nuka Cola, only not as sweet. Duncan didn’t like it, and Shaun wasn’t a fan either. But it was nice that she’d brought some back. As they sipped, Shaun noticed the sun setting in the window behind Mister MacCready and Duncan.

                “Mom?” He tugged on her sleeve, but he felt a bubble in his throat—like he couldn’t talk right. She had gotten them those nice dolls. What if she didn’t like the jukebox? What if it didn’t play music like it had before? She smiled down at him and pushed some of his hair out of his face.

                “What, baby?”

                “I—uh—I have something to show you.”

                A frown flitted across her face. “Are you okay, Shaun?”

                “Fine, Mom. Just…follow me, okay?”

                He hopped off the couch and Mister MacCready shot him an encouraging smile before he, Duncan, and Mom all got up to follow.

                At this time of night, most people were at the bar getting dinner, or making food at home, so the commonhouse was empty. He made Mom close her eyes before steering her into the living room, where the Jukebox was set up against the far wall with the window facing the garden. Ducan made sure she kept her eyes closed while Shaun went around and plugged the lights into the outlets Sturges had showed him. The generator chugged in the background. Watching her face, he turned the volume knob on the jukebox, and the faint tinkling strands of “Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall” played softly in the background. He saw Mom’s lip twitch into a smile.

                “Okay, Mom. Open your eyes.”

                Her eyes went wide when she looked around at the Christmas lights Sturges had helped him hang up. Then, she settled on the jukebox right in front of her. Her hand came up to her mouth and she breathed in like she was going to cry again.

                “Do you like it?”

                “Shaun fixed it all by himself!” Duncan shouted. “While daddy and I got the cakes!”

                She crouched down in front of Shaun again and hugged him close.

                “Shaun, sweetheart, I love it!”

                He felt like he was glowing from the inside out. After a minute, she stood back up and a jazz number came over the speakers. She took his hands and shuffled her feet back and forth. It took him a minute to realize she was dancing. Mom twirled him around in circles, letting go of his hand to twirl Duncan too. When Mister MacCready stepped over, she took his hand and he spun her around. He wasn’t a good dancer like Mom, but she laughed and laughed until she couldn’t breathe.

                He realized as he watched her that Uncle Preston had been right. No matter where Mom went or how far away she traveled, she’d always come home to him and Duncan and Mister MacCready. They were a family.


	10. Author's Note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU!!!!!!

Hi all!

 

Thank you so much for reading about Shaun and Duncan! I really loved writing about these little guys. It was a unique struggle, but I just thought they were so cute! I actually modeled Duncan off a kid I taught when he was a preschooler (so shout-out to little Connor, who is probably like 12 now)! <3 I hope you all liked the ending—I always have so much trouble with endings.

 

I will probably write Shaun and Duncan vignettes, so if people have prompts or ideas they would be interested in seeing—let me know! I am always looking for new source of inspiration.

 

The next Fallout series will probably be Lola meeting each of the companions so that I can practice playing with the companions’ perspectives and character voices. If anyone is interested, there is also a story about Porter Gage in the works!

 

Anywho! Thank you so much to everyone who read and kudo’d and commented! Your support really kept me going, and I am sososososososososososo grateful! Seriously, I can’t thank you all enough. Writing is so challenging and intimidating sometimes, and this has been such a sweet and wonderful community here on AO3!

 

I hope you are all well and happy, and I send my love!

 

\--Star!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So this was inspired by Ash, who left a comment on my first story asking to see more of Shaun and Duncan. It was a great idea--full credit to Ash for suggesting it! 
> 
> Thank you for reading!
> 
> If you want, you can find me on Tumblr here: http://starlightwrites.tumblr.com/


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